Post by WVUfanPHILLY on Aug 30, 2007 0:46:01 GMT -5
By TOM CANAVAN, AP Sports Writer
August 29, 2007
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -- All eight home games are sold out. The waiting list for season tickets has reached 6,000. Aluminum bleachers have been added to seat an additional 2,500 fans at each game.
Have no doubts! This is the most anticipated season in the 138-year history of college football at Rutgers, and it gets under way Thursday night when the No. 16 Scarlet Knights play Buffalo at Rutgers Stadium.
"It's something we've been looking forward to all camp, just getting back on the field and doing what we love best," standout defensive tackle Eric Foster said. "There's nothing like game time."
The preseason ranking is the first for Rutgers, and much is expected at the birthplace of college football.
After all, the state university of New Jersey arguably had its best season in 2006. The Scarlet Knights won their first nine games to put themselves in the national title race in November, and a triple-overtime loss to West Virginia in the final game of the regular season kept them away from a really big bowl berth.
Long-suffering fans may accept nothing less than a Bowl Championship Series appearance from coach Greg Schiano, especially with an upcoming eight home games.
"You're never ready," said Schiano, whose tenure at Rutgers started with four straight losing seasons. "I used to get uptight about that as a younger coach, but you gotta realize they're not ready either. No one is ready. Their college-aged kids, you've got 29 practices to get them prepared."
The Scarlet Knights return halfback Ray Rice, a junior, and 13 other starters from the team that posted an 11-2 record and won the first bowl game in school history.
Former Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill, who went 2-10 last year in his first season as Buffalo's coach, said every team will try to slow down Rice. The junior ran for a school-record 1,794 yards and 20 touchdowns last season. He finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting.
"You ain't going to totally stop him, but you have to slow him down and make sure he doesn't get loose," Gill said. "Once you get a running game going, I don't care who you are, you can do a lot of things offensively."
With Rice running the ball, it makes life easy for quarterback Mike Teel, who is 12-3 in two seasons as a starter. He completed 45-of-69 passes for 692 yards and five touchdowns and no interceptions in his final three games.
The Scarlet Knights lost two big pieces of the offense when full back Brian Leonard and tight end Clark Harris finished their careers. Jack Corcoran will start at full back and Chris Rudanovic will step in at tight end.
Six starters return from a defense that was ranked in the top 10 nationally in total defense, sacks and scoring a year ago.
A secondary that features safety Courtney Greene might be the best in the Big East Conference. There are some concerns with middle linebacker Devraun Thompson and defensive tackle Ramel Meekins gone.
Damaso Munoz has taken over the middle linebacker. Pete Tverdov took over Meekins' spot, but his status for the opener is uncertain because of a leg injury. Vantrise Studivant would start if Tverdov can't play.
Buffalo returns 16 starters from last year's team, including talented sophomore halfback James Starks, who rushed for 704 yards and six touchdowns last season.
The Bulls also have an exciting returner in Naaman Roosevelt, who averaged 13.1 yards on punt returns and 25.9 on kickoff returns.
While Buffalo is a big underdog, Gill said that his program will get a lot of exposure, which might help with recruiting.
"We need exposure to be able to be successful," Gill said.
